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[RTN LNA]

67b

I am pleased to announce my newest MOC

The RTS Zavala Steamship-of-War



This vessel is a side-paddle-wheel sailing steamship.
The model is almost 4 ½ feet long (1.36 meters) and it uses 13 hull center sections.

Although called a schooner, the Zavala is more properly "hermaphrodite brigantine". Some drawings of the Zavala show 3 masts, but the best research (the INA article), however, confirms that she had only two masts. My model of the Zavala has working Lego pneumatic side-paddle-wheel walking-beam steam engines; it also has a working ship's wheel with steering gear reduction to the rudder. Things I like about this model: the curved inverted sloped stern, the full length gun deck mounting 24 cannons, the ship's bell, the boats, the way the schooner's gaff sail booms attach to the masts, the steer down the length of the hull, the curve around the bow and along the sides, and the paddle wheel shells. As you can see, the RTS Zavala has her guns run out and is firing up her boilers (two pneumatic air-tanks) - no doubt she has spotted her prey.

-- begin edited in
BE SURE TO -> checkout some of the posts below (esp. #16, #18, #21)
Parts list and construction details on the ship's bell here.
Parts list and construction drawing on how to attach your boom in the middle of the mast here.

NEW! The links to the uploaded videos are here.

RTS Zavala was
Nominated for Best Sea Craft
at Brickworld 2009!

AND WON!!

-- end edit

The TWO paged brickshelf gallery is here.

Some links about the real Texas Navys Zavala:
Wikipedia entry for the Texan Schooner Zavala
INA Article about the Zavala starts on page 10
Texas Navy ship list
NUMA article about the Zavala

enjoy

kurt

This post has been edited by SlyOwl: 21 September 2009 - 05:19 PM

[Siegfried]

Well that's just stunning. This could be the first Pirates-Technic crossover ever! Pneumatic Pirates!

I'll try to find the time to look at the rest of your pics.

[CPT. Jr]

Man that is awesome, i don't think i have ever seen anything like it before. I like all the work you put ino it by reasearching ect. (im a history buff)

This post has been edited by CPT. Jr: 16 December 2008 - 04:54 AM

[Guss]

huhu , amazing, the shape of it is really cool that's a really amazing ship, + you "motorized" it ! technic + steamboat = win ! great job ! 12/10 !

[Captain Zuloo]

HOLY CRAP!!! Someone put this on the frontpage pronto! As soon as PTV is over, expect to see this on the frontpage asthis is AWESOME!!! The shape from bricks is brilliant as are the lines. Best ship I've seen!

[Captain Blue Hair]

Amazing work, looks very accurate!
Might i ask why you haven't made a brick built hull?

[Teddy]

Dear Kurt (RTN LNA) ,

that's a beautyfull creation.
Do you have a movie of the working paddle wheels?
I would like to see them in action.
Although I'm not a fan of big hull pieces on such large vessals,
you did a real good job in using them.
Kind regards,

Teddy

[RTN LNA]

Sinner, on Dec 16 2008, 02:10 AM, said:

Well that's just stunning. This could be the first Pirates-Technic crossover ever! Pneumatic Pirates!

I'll try to find the time to look at the rest of your pics.

I hope you enjoyed being "stunned".

And now I have the appellation "Pneumatic Pirate"?
That sucks err.. blows...

kurt

CPT. Jr, on Dec 16 2008, 04:51 AM, said:

Man that is awesome, i don't think i have ever seen anything like it before. I like all the work you put ino it by reasearching ect. (im a history buff)

Awesome is good!

I like building MOCs where nothing like them has ever been seen before!

I put more research in to RTS Legitor. The books I have on the Texas Navy made me aware of the Zavala, I had been planning to model it for some time now. The design challenges are what made this MOC so interesting.

kurt

Guss, on Dec 16 2008, 09:31 AM, said:

huhu , amazing, the shape of it is really cool that's a really amazing ship, + you "motorized" it ! technic + steamboat = win ! great job ! 12/10 !

I am glad you enjoyed it, however it has no motors, just an incoming air hose (you can see it in a few photos)
it comes in through the hull on the side.

Captain Zuloo, on Dec 16 2008, 01:26 PM, said:

HOLY CRAP!!! Someone put this on the frontpage pronto! As soon as PTV is over, expect to see this on the frontpage asthis is AWESOME!!! The shape from bricks is brilliant as are the lines. Best ship I've seen!

High praise indeed!
Have you seen some of my other ships?
Kurt's ship MOCs

[Guss]

Quote

just an incoming air hose (you can see it in a few photos)
it comes in through the hull on the side.

yay I saw it after I posted , , did you try to fit a motor inside it and it didn't work ? not enough room ? or does a electric motor coupled to a airthing is just not enough to make the wheels move ?

[RTN LNA]

Captain green hair, on Dec 16 2008, 01:49 PM, said:

Amazing work, looks very accurate!
Might i ask why you haven't made a brick built hull?

Thanks, I do try for accuracy.
Why haven't I tried to make a brick built hull? I have tried a number of times! Both with the CAD tools and with bricks in hand. I just have not been satisfied with the results, the fairness of the lines just wasn't there for me.

Teddy, on Dec 16 2008, 03:22 PM, said:

Dear Kurt (RTN LNA) ,

that's a beautyfull creation.
Do you have a movie of the working paddle wheels?
I would like to see them in action.
Although I'm not a fan of big hull pieces on such large vessals,
you did a real good job in using them.
Kind regards,

Teddy

I am glad you think it's beautiful.
I will work on getting a movie made and uploaded somewhere.
I am using the standard 2557c01, N x 2560, 2559c01 hull parts, so I don't understand.

[Zorro]

Quote

I am glad you think it's beautiful.
I will work on getting a movie made and uploaded somewhere.
I am using the standard 2557c01, N x 2560, 2559c01 hull parts, so I don't understand.

Well, it REALLY is beautifull ...
I am looking forward to that movie of the ship as well, its easier for us then BL.
Brick build hulls are usually used for such large ships, but don't worry too much, your ship turned out just fine!

This post has been edited by zorro3999: 16 December 2008 - 05:54 PM

[RTN LNA]

Guss, on Dec 16 2008, 05:32 PM, said:

yay I saw it after I posted , , did you try to fit a motor inside it and it didn't work ? not enough room ?
or does a electric motor coupled to a airthing is just not enough to make the wheels move ?

No, I could have easily fitted a motor in there, but then how do I power it?
If I use a battery then it will always be dead, (I don't play with my models,
they just set there) so to avoid that I have to wire to the motor to power it.
What have I gained? The hose is just as easy. And then I have not trapped
a motor in this model (motors are not cheap!).

Good questions!

zorro3999, on Dec 16 2008, 05:54 PM, said:

Well, it REALLY is beautifull ...
I am looking forward to that movie of the ship as well, its easier for us then BL.
Brick build hulls are usually used for such large ships, but don't worry too much, your ship turned out just fine!

The RTS Zavala is approximately minifig scale, it’s 1.2 feet per stud.
The scale was set by the width of the hull center pieces with two rows of inverted slopes on each side. That set the beam width width, and on the original Zavala that beam width was 24 feet.
Working off of the drawing from the INA article:
I then could know the length and width of the model in studs, I could then figure out how many hull center sections.

[Captain K.]

Hello Kurt,

Excellent work!
This is a very imposing ship.
I like it very much.
The steamengine is impressive.

Greeting,
Capt. K.

[Bonaparte]

Kurt, this is one of the best ships I've seen in some time. This morning I looked for about 10 minutes at all the beautiful pictures in your BS gallery. It's got a perfect line! I like how you managed to build this on a standard hull and still made the deck so very wide. It must have taken some time and re-building to get the line of the ship looking this good. Thirtheen mid hull sections... that's amazing! I'm building a ship on 7 mid-sections and thought that was already mighty long. Might I ask how long you've worked on this beautiful vessel?

I would do two things differently: Go for 'real' sails out of canvas iso paper and go for 'real' rigging using ropes. You can still do that, but it will take some time and patience.

PS: I've resized the picture in your first post and made it a bit brighter.

[RTN LNA]

Captain K., on Dec 16 2008, 07:25 PM, said:

Excellent work!
This is a very imposing ship.
I like it very much.
The steamengine is impressive.

I am glad that you like my ship, and I did work hard to make the walking-beam steam engine(s) look good, as well as work!